I am a third year student of the department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. I have a lways had an aptitude for mathematics and wanted to do some research work in this field. In my fourth semester I was introduced to the field of Statistics as a compulsory course for my undergraduate studies. It caught my fascination. I used to wonder how easily Probability and Statistics relates mathematics to the most un-mathematical world. This fascination was the driving force why I chose to do my internship in a field which is very different from my major.

I basically mailed a few professors in India who are currently working in the field of applied statistics. In total I would have mailed almost as many as 50 professors. I got a reply from almost all of them, and many of them were positive. The main reason why I think I was considered for such an internship inspite of my unrelated field of study was my performance in Mathematical Olympiads in my school days. So any student who has performed decently in Maths Olympiads and is not a full time student of mathematics can apply for such an internship. Out of the many choices I had, I chose the internship at Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta under the guidance of its Director Dr. Bimal K. Roy.

Though it was basically an interest internship and stipend didn’t really matter to me, it may noted that I was to be remunerated @ Rs 1000 per week. The accommodation and food were arranged within the institute itself. Also the office of Director reimbursed me the entire to and fro fare of a 3 tier AC train from my hometown to Kolkata. Even though I live only 125 kms away from Kolkata, I hadn’t been to the place very often. So I was completely unknown to the metro city.

My internship was to start from 15th May, 2012. So I chose to arrive on 14th May. After getting out from a cool AC train a very hot and sultry city of Kolkata welcomed me. Even though I knew the exact location of ISI; an arduous journey and the hot weather made sure that I took a taxi cab and did not travel by bus which would cost me 25 times less! I was allotted a single room in an M.Tech Hostel which was reasonably far from both the academic area and the mess. However the peaceful atmosphere, the green ambience and the proximity of a beautiful artificial pond made it an ideal place to stay for a summer research internship. It is worthwhile to note that the hostel which was allotted to me didn’t have proper internet connectivity. Only some floors had a LAN port and others had to buy a 20 metre LAN wire to access internet facility.My internship was in the field of cryptography. I studied e-stream ciphers and I finally had to make a project report on the statistical analysis of different modes of attacks that a cryptographic system may sustain and provide solutions and alternative attacks. It was both fun as well as challenging at the same time. Fun because I got to study statistics from the Director himself and challenging because I had to study a lot of computer science for my research.

Overall it was a thoroughly satisfying internship experience. I got to interact with the ISI and CMI students and had brain storming sessions with them. I also got plenty of time to see various places in Kolkata with other fellow internees. My internship ended on 6th July, 2012. So it was both educative and fun filled 9 weeks that I had. Anyone who has interest in mathematics can get an internship in ISI. I believe my story will help a lot of like minded people aspiring for such an internship.

Your write-up is very precise and indeed enlightening about research in ISI Kolkata. I am currently a 3rd yr student of B.Tech Mechanical Engineering in NIT Surathkal . I also want to pursue research in either pure Maths, Statistics or Mathematical Economics (undecided which one) in future. However, all I have to show for my knowledge in those fields in my resume is Engineering Maths courses in my first year, Probability Applications and Economics courses in 3rd year (currently) . I am eager for a research Internship in ISI kolkata in the 2013 summer in statistics. So, I would like to ask you about the correct time to mail the profs at ISI?. also what to write when you mail them? I had done research in IIT Madras last summer which was in my current field so I cant speak of that either.My resume only has mechanical projects as of now.
I want to switch my field after graduation so this summer’s internship will be very important for future. Your help is deeply appreciated. Since you are also not from maths background, your advice will be of immense help. Thank you.

The write-up helped me a lot with the various aspects of internship @ISI Koklata.

I am a 3rd year Computer Science student at DAIICT Gandhinagar and wish to join ISI Kolkata as a research intern for the coming Summer. Can you please elaborate the application procedure a little more? What is the ideal time for mailing the professors and what should be the mail format? How do you choose a topic for research- in this case did you ask for cryptography or was it assigned to you?

Hi!
I am a 3rd yr student (doing B.Tech in comp science & eng) and I am very much interested about summer internship at ISI next year. I want to know about the available research fields at ISI and other privileges. But the main thing is, is it necessary to get referral from a ISI professor? What if I submit my own resume along with application letters? Won’t it be enough? Please response.